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The SBL Podcast

181 - Lee Sklar: The Working Bass Player

The SBL Podcast

Scott's Bass Lessons

Scott's Bass Lessons, Bass Guitar, Bass, Online Bass Lessons, Education, Music Interviews, Electric Bass, Music, Sbl

4.8522 Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2025

⏱️ 86 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What’s it like to be one of the most recorded bass players of all time? In this episode, Scott sits down with session legend Leland Sklar, the bassist behind classic records from Carole King, Phil Collins, James Taylor, Dolly Parton, Toto, and Diana Ross—just a glimpse into a career that spans over 2,000 albums. Lee shares unforgettable studio stories, his most memorable moments, and the bass lines that have defined his legendary career. From decades in the studio to life on the road, this is...

Transcript

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0:00.0

So much of the early recording was like guerrilla warfare.

0:06.1

There's only one guy on stage that needs to know the downbeat.

0:09.9

I walk in and I see Robert Planner Clapton and they go,

0:13.2

Hey, Lee, how are you doing? I go, why do they know me?

0:19.8

Guys like him, he's just another world altogether.

0:22.6

I remember him playing me a song, and I'm sitting there going,

0:25.6

I would saw my legs off to write a song that good.

0:31.6

Well, his superpower was that he was Phil Collins,

0:34.6

because he was everything.

0:36.6

He had it. He was just such a remarkable guy to work with.

0:42.8

I had five days to learn the show.

0:46.2

I work best under pressure.

0:51.6

Everything I do is predicated on the song. There's the basic job and then there's these other things

0:57.0

you can do that puts you a little ahead of the game. So we are here with the incredible Leland

1:05.1

Scler who I've been wanting to interview for all of my life actually, all of my life. You've obviously heard of Lee's Scler

1:12.7

before. But just in case you haven't, just in case you've been living in a rock somewhere,

1:17.2

Lee's recorded on thousands and thousands and thousands of recordings. I've got to write a list

1:22.2

and this is only a tiny list of some of the people that he's played with. But it'll just give you a

1:26.3

taster. We've got James Taylor, Carol King, Linda Ronstadt, Phil Collins, Toto, Lyle Lover, Diana Ross,

1:33.5

Hall & Oates, Faith Hill.

1:35.3

And I'm still not finished.

1:36.9

Vanessa Couten, Jackson Brown, Dolly Parton, Ray Charles, Billy Cobham, Willie Nelson,

...

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